Hermione Hannen

Hermione Hannen
Born	(1913-01-26)26 January 1913 London, England
Died	1 October 1983(1983-10-01) (aged 70) Shrewsbury, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1932-1950s
Spouse(s)	Anthony Quayle (1934–41) (divorced) Clifford Evans (?–1983)
Parents	Nicholas "Beau" Hannen Muriel Morland
Relatives	Nicholas John Hannen (grandfather) Athene Seyler (step-mother) Ariane Mnouchkine (niece)

Hermione Hannen (26 January 1913–1 October 1983) was a popular English theatre and film actress. She was born in London, the daughter of Nicholas "Beau" Hannen, who was also an actor on the stage and in film.

Career

Hannen trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her début as an actress was in Cairo in 1932 during her father's tour of the Far East and Australia. In the 1930s she acted in numerous plays performed at the Old Vic in London, including The Voysey Inheritance, The Rivals, Man and Superman and Hamlet. She also played Ophelia in Hamlet at the Westminster Theatre in 1937 and in Silent Night at St James's.^[1]

She also performed in five films between 1935 and 1946.^[2]

During World War II, from 1940 to 1945, she was a BBC announcer, and from 1954 she broadcast regularly in plays.^[1]

First Name

Hannen's grandfather was Sir Nicholas John Hannen, who served as Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan and also as British Consul-General in Shanghai. Sir Nicholas died in office and marines from HMS Hermione served as an honour guard and pallbearers at his funeral.^[3] This is presumably why the name Hermione was chosen for her.

Marriages

Hannen was married twice. Her first husband was the English actor Anthony Quayle (1913–1989) and her second husband was the Welsh actor Clifford Evans (1912–1985), who survived her.^[1]

Death

She died in Shrewsbury on 1 October 1983.^[1]

References

External links

• Hermione Hannen at the Internet Movie Database
• Anthony, Gordon (1938). "Hermione Hannen; Anthony Quayle". National Portrait Gallery, London.